KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (October 11, 2016)– According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), more than 19 million dogs wear a collar daily. While commonly viewed as a form of protection and safety, an upwards of 26,000 collar strangulation accidents occur yearly in homes and establishments across the country. Crates and kennels, playing with other dogs, fences, heating/cooling vents, shrubs and branches are a few of the most common strangulation hazards dogs face each day.

To help educate pet owners and professionals about the risks of strangulation and dangers associated with traditional collars,PetSafe® Brand is sponsoring its second annual Collar Safety Awareness Week,October 16-22, as part of National Animal Safety and Protection Month.

“A survey of veterinarians, trainers and doggy daycares found that more than 50 percent have experienced a collar-related accident with a dog. The number one most common way collar accidents occur is when dogs are playing together and one dog gets snagged in the collar,” said Toni Mark, KPA-CTP, MA, Training and Behavior Education Specialist for PetSafe Brand. “By sponsoring Collar Safety Awareness Week for the second year in a row, we’re hoping that we can reduce the number of these tragedies by educating pet owners and professionals about the danger and frequency of collar strangulation accidents.”

Designed to prevent dogs from getting entangled by their collars, thePetSafe® KeepSafe® Break-Away Collarwas invented by Tenney Mudge after the devastating loss of her beloved dog, Chinook, to a collar strangulation accident. The collar features a patented break-away safety buckle that releases when pressure is applied or it gets caught on something, allowing it to fall off harmlessly and reduce the risk of strangulation or injury to the pet. The KeepSafe collar also has a metal D-ring on each side of the breakaway buckle, which can be used to attach ID tags and can also be clipped together with a leash so pet parents can safely walk their dogs using the collar.

In addition to the KeepSafe Break-Away Collar, PetSafe Brand has developed an informativevideoandinfographicto help pet parents protect their dogs. To learn more about Collar Safety Awareness Week, please contactkeepsafecollar@petsafe.net.